The men, dressed in construction site clothing, told the victim they had discovered a wooden box while breaking ground at a construction site and that a note, old Chinese coins, paper currency and gold ingots were found inside. The victim was presented with the note which she translated. It appeared to be a last Will and Testament of a man who lived in Denver many years ago. The finder of the box was directed to locate and give half the contents to his son and the finder would keep the remainder.

The suspects then pulled several gold ingots from a bag for the victim’s inspection saying that she could have them tested to see if they were real. The suspects asked the victim if she could sell the ingots for them for $180,000 and if she agreed, she could have half the money. This was considered a great deal as the so-called gold ingots were worth much more. The victim contacted Denver Police and the suspects were arrested without incident.

If you have information regarding this incident or are a victim of this type of crime, please contact the Denver Police Department at 720-913-2000 or call Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867). You can text to: CRIMES (274637) then title DMCS and enter your message or send an e-mail to metro-denvercrimestoppers.com. If the information you provide leads to the arrest and charging of a wanted individual, you can receive a cash award up to $2,000.

Scams like this have been successful in Canada, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York.

Posted on April 15, 2011 (Archive on May 15, 2011)Posted by chanster1 Contributed by chanster1